Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

The practice of mindfulness is simply to bring awareness to what we are doing, what we are saying, and what we are thinking.

Metta (loving-kindness) becomes truly effective only when it arises from a peaceful mind, a pure mind, a balanced mind.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.

The menu is not the meal.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

The real purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

The rising and falling of the abdomen is not the main object. The main object is to develop mindfulness, concentration, and insight.